Measles cases up by 400%

LINGAYEN—Measles cases in Pangasinan since
January up to March 4 have increased by 400 percent compared to the same period
last year, according to the Provincial Health Officer.

Dr. Anna de Guzman said there were 547 measles cases
with four deaths since January compared to last year’s 123 recorded measles
cases with one death of the same period,

De Guzman said the ten towns and cities with the
highest number of measles cases and placed under PPO’’s watch list are Dagupan
City, Lingayen, San Carlos City, Bugallon, Alaminos City, Calasiao, Malasiqui,
Binmaley, Sta. Barbara and Aguilar.

While Pangasinan has the highest number of measles cases in Region 1, she pointed out that it has the biggest population. She said proximity to areas that declared an outbreak is another factor.

She said although the number is increasing in Pangasinan, there is still no outbreak since no city or municipal health workers that monitored their respective areas have determined that no outbreak has occurred.

Another factor, she said was there has been no clustering of measles cases yet in the province.

De Guzman attributed the continued increase in the number of measles cases to the Dengvaxia scare. There are still a big number of parents who are reluctant to have their kids vaccinated with anti-measles and other preventable diseases.

The campaign for vaccination has been
included in the Kalusugan Karaban of the provincial government because it has
been observed that measles vaccination coverage in the province also decreased
by 25 percent compared to previous years.

Based on the target given by the Department of Health, there are 28,000 “missed children” in the province who have not been vaccinated. (PhilStar Wire Service)